Pet owners have right to appeal, Dann says

Thursday

Feb 28, 2008 at 12:01 AMFeb 28, 2008 at 1:41 PM

Cities and counties can adopt ordinances regulating dangerous or vicious dogs, so long as the laws allow dog owners the chance to contest an animal-control officer's conclusion that the canine is vicious, Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann said.

Cities and counties can adopt ordinances regulating dangerous or vicious dogs, so long as the laws allow dog owners the chance to contest an animal-control officer's conclusion that the canine is vicious, Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann said.

Dann issued a formal opinion Tuesday in response to a request for legal guidance from Fairfield County Prosecutor David Landefeld.

Landefeld was among local officials across the state left perplexed after an Ohio Supreme Court ruling in 2004 declared part of the state's vicious-dog law unconstitutional.

The court found that the state law failed to guarantee an accused dog owner sufficient procedural due process, a violation of the dog owner's constitutional rights.

Only the state legislature can address the flaw by changing the law, Dann wrote.

Cities and counties can proceed on their own, however, simply by including an appeals process in their local laws, he wrote.

"By providing a dog owner with such procedures, a board of county commissioners or legislative authority of a city protects a dog owner's constitutional right to procedural due process when county or city officials enforce resolutions or ordinances that regulate the ownership and control of dangerous or vicious dogs within its territory," Dann wrote.

Fairfield County officials had responded to the 2004 ruling by establishing a vicious-dog appeals board in 2006. But Landefeld suspended the board because he didn't know whether the county had the authority to create it, and asked the attorney general for an opinion.

Local officials were studying the opinion yesterday. Dog Warden Mike Miller Sr. and Lancaster Assistant Law Director Randall Ullom said they planned to meet with the prosecutor and other city and county officials to discuss whether local ordinances should be enacted.

The goal remains the same, Ullom said.

"How can we still enforce these laws? We want responsible dog ownership."